It's made out of two layers: one with reflections and no AA, or shadows in ART. One with scanline with AA and shadows.The layers where merged and added with after effects. The intro is after effects too.Physics where done with cre8or.

Update on the steam thing. I realised that, with the valve gear the machine had, reversing would be a bit of a problem. Also, I felt the drive gears did not reduce the revs of the crankshafts sufficiently for the machine to have much torque. Therefore, a major redesign of the valve system and power transfer gears has taken place, as per the still below.

The reversing system lacks a link rod to the (as yet unmodelled) lever in the control cabin, and the control cabin itself remains almost entirely unmodelled. I have scripted the motion of the rotating things, including a decelerate/direction change/accelerate routine, but the motion of the valve and piston links will have to be keyframed. Subsequently I doubt this will be ready before the deadline, in which case the earlier YouTube link will stand as the entry. I do plan to finish this project, however, irrespective of the contest deadline.

Very impressive! And you scripted all the movement? Wonderful job.It appears to be a very complicated piece of machinery, and seeing your last animation it appears you're pulling it off wonderfully. Keep it up!